A New Life
by Anitsyrhk
Summary: A mute child is in the care of the Order.
1. Chapter One

The girl took one last long look at was once her home. All that was left of it were charred remains. There was nothing left for her there. Her belongings that could be saved were in a small backpack beside her.

The site of the fire was littered with footprints from careless people that had walked around, trying to figure out what had happened.

But she knew. She knew and she was not going to tell. She was mute.

"Come along, child," a silky voice said.

She turned and looked at the owner of the voice. Tears were streaming down her face. She was too young to deal with such a loss. She gave in to the childish impulse that she never gave into before. She lifted up her arms to be carried.

The owner of the voice shifted nervously. He was not used to caring for children. He was more of a disciplinarian when it came to children. When the girl started sniffing, he walked over and grabbed her backpack. He then picked up the girl.

"This never happened," he whispered, hoping to get a giggle from the girl. She merely held onto his neck while he carried her away.

By the time the two had reached their destination, a house, the girl was asleep.

The door to the house opened.

"How is she?" A voice asked.

"She just lost her family and house. I would say she is absolutely spiffing," the man answered sarcastically.

"Break it up. Take her upstairs. The open door is her bedroom," a woman ordered crisply.

Even though the man was not used to following orders, especially from this woman, he took the girl up the stairs. He found the open door and walked inside. The room was sparsely furnished, hardly what this girl was used to. He laid her on the bed and placed a blanket over her. He glanced at her face and saw that she was watching him.

"Have you been awake the whole time? I wager you have.

She said nothing.

He shifted nervously again. He was not the type that was used to caring for small children. "Well, good night.

He turned to leave, but was stopped by the sound of the girl getting out of bed and rummaging through her backpack. When she was done, a well-loved book was clutched in her small hands. She held the book out to him.

"You want me to read to you?" He asked, incredulous.

She nodded and sat back on the bed. He stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before taking the book from the child and sitting on the bed. The girl snuggled under the covers.

Bedtime Fairy Tales? Not my choice. What one would you like to hear?" He handed the book to her. She found a picture of a woman cleaning and handed the book back to him. _Cinderella?_ Once upon a time there lived a girl and her parents

By the time the man was done, the girl was asleep. The covers had fallen off of her. He picked them up and tucked her in. He placed the book on the nightstand and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Is she asleep?" The man that met them at the door asked.

"Yes." Was the curt reply.

"Why were you up there so long?

The answer was muffled by a glass that the man was drinking out of.

"Pardon?

"She wanted to hear a bedtime story," The man whispered.

All those that were around the kitchen had to stifle snorts at the thought of this man reading a child a bedtime story.

The man scowled and walked out.


	2. Chapter Two

Author's note: I do not own anything remotely related to Harry Potter including the characters. I merely intend for this story to be a what if situation. I do not intend for any of the characters to be out of their character. If I seem to have made any large character or plot errors, please let me know and I will fix it to the best of my ability. There will be no romance in this story, if you were wondering.

Professor Severus Snape lay awake in his room. He could not understand why he had responded to the child like he did. He decided that he pitied the child and that was all. He merely wanted to insure that the child would get some sleep. He turned over and tried to fall asleep. He sincerely hoped he was not forming a soft spot. That would put such a dent in his reputation as a greasy git at school.

The child in question was having a difficult time staying asleep. She was having a nightmare of the previous night when her life was destroyed. She kept seeing dark figures killing her parents. Her parents never showed her much love, but they still talked with her. They used to be quite loving, until they found out that she would not speak, even with spells and potions.

She sat up quickly and looked around. No, she was not in her room. She remembered a man reading her a bedtime story. She had fallen asleep. She did not know where she was.

She pushed her covers off and crawled out of her bed. She held on to her teddy bear and looked around. She noticed the door and walked to it. She stuck her head out of the doorframe and peered out. There was no one around. There was a stairwell. She crept down the hall and then down the stairs. There was a light coming from one of the rooms. She walked to in and cracked open the door.

Inside the room were four people talking. Two of them had red hair. One had graying brown hair. And the other one had long hair the color of snow. She fidgeted. She did not know how they would react to her being out of bed. Her parents had never acted well to her being out of bed.

As luck would have it, one of the two with red hair, the woman, noticed her.

"Hello there, Little One," She said kindly. She walked to the door and opened it.

Everyone turned to the door and looked at the child. The child looked up at the woman and began to cry. There were too many people looking at her. She did not know how to react.

The woman, Mrs. Weasley, noticed this and immediately scooped the child into her arms. "Hush, there there. It's alright," She whispered and patted the child's back.

This only caused the child's tears to flow even more.

Mrs. Weasley was at a loss. Most children stopped crying when they were held. This one was only crying more. She gave a confused look to the three men in the room. Remus Lupin held out his arms. He could sometimes do well with children.

The child's tears, if possible, flowed even more. Remus looked to Mr. Weasley with a lost expression. Mr. Weasley shrugged his shoulders. He may have had a lot of children, but that didn't mean he understood them. Remus looked over to Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore held out his arms. Children always liked Dumbledore.

The child calmed down a little. This man smelled like candy. She had always liked candy. Her parents would give her some when she would try to talk to encourage her to speak.

Dumbledore sensed the child calming and reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out a lemon drop. He held it out to the child. A small hand reached out to grasp the piece of candy. She sniffled and looked at the candy strangely. She put it into her mouth.

She tasted salt from her tears and something else. Something sour. With a face she pulled it out and looked at it hatefully. She threw it to the floor and cried again.

Something was being held in front of her. She couldn't see it well from her blurred vision. It was chocolate. She calmed a little and took a bite. She calmed even more.

Snape turned over in frustration. He was not getting any sleep. He doubted he would sleep at all. He gave up and got dressed. He held his wand and apparated. He appeared in a kitchen to see an amusing site. The child was being held by Dumbledore. She was crying while Lupin and the Weasley's looked on helpless. When he appeared, they looked at him as if he had some magic with children. He was a teacher, after all. Surely he loved children?

He walked over to where the child was getting Dumbledore's robes very wet. He noticed with some amusement that there was a discarded lemon drop on the floor. He reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of chocolate and held it in front of the girl. She took it and visibly calmed.

"I thought you knew what to do with a crying child," he drawled while looking at the Weasley's.

Mrs. Weasley bristled, "My children would always stop crying when we held them. She just cried more.

"That would explain why your boys are such Momma's Boys," Snape replied.

_Thank_ you, Severus," Albus Dumbledore broke in before a fight could break out.

Snape turned to Dumbledore. The child was looking at him. A small staring contest broke out. Cold, black eyes stared into innocent, hazel eyes. The child broke her gaze to stuff the rest of her chocolate into her mouth. She looked up and held out her arms.

Severus stared at her, dumbfounded.

Everyone in the room hid their grins again. Dumbledore spoke up, "Severus, I think she wants you to hold her.

"I am aware of that, Albus. She seems perfectly fine with you," Snape said and walked to the other side of the room, to put as much distance between himself and the child. "Are you not all supposed to be working right now?" He barked.

"Severus we were discussing what to do with the girl. Perhaps you could take her?" Lupin suggested with a smile, "She seems to like you.

"And perhaps Potter and I will have a bonding session as well," Snape retorted. He did not want to take care of a child. He was not parent material. "Does she not have a name? We all can not very well keep referring to her as, "The girl".

Everyone in the room exchanged glances. Dumbledore spoke up. "Her parents never gave her a name. They found out she was mute and decided she was not worthy of such an honor. But I do suppose a naming is in order. Any suggestions?

Lupin stifled a smile. "Harriet?

Snape frowned, "Absolutely not.

Many more suggestions for names were mentioned, but Snape disagreed with all. The Weasley's had long since left, deciding to sleep on it.

"Well, Severus, since you have found fault with all of Remus's suggestions, perhaps you can grace us with a suggestion of your own?" Albus asked.

Snape thought for a moment. "I cannot think of anything. Albus, have you any ideas?

Dumbledore looked at the child who had fallen asleep in his arms.

"What about October?" Dumbledore suggested.

Severus was about to object when Lupin beat him to it, "October? Is that not a month?

"You cannot name a child after a month," Snape added.

"Then what about Piper?" Dumbledore asked.

Neither wizard could find fault in the name.

"Piper October it is," Dumbledore declared.

Both wizards began objecting, but their attempts were futile. Dumbledore went to put the child back to bed.


	3. Chapter Three

The newly named Piper woke up to the woman from the night before shaking her.

"Piper, honey, wake up.

Piper gave the woman a confused look. Piper? Where had that come from?

"Piper is the name that we have given you. Do you not like it?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

Piper merely held her arms up. These people gave her more affection than her own parents had. She enjoyed every minute of the affection.

Mrs. Weasley picked up Piper and walked to the bathroom. "Piper, I am going to give you a bath.

After Piper's bath she was changed into new clothing. Just as Mrs. Weasley had finished brushing Piper's hair, a red haired boy came to the door.

"Mum! Mum! He's here! Harry's here!" He said breathless. He ran back out the door. He could be heard running down the hall.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Weasley said. She held Piper's hand as they walked downstairs to where a lot of people were gathered. Everyone was gathered around a black haired boy. He was smiling happily. Mrs. Weasley dropped Piper's hand and ran to hug the black haired boy.

Piper was confused. Who were all these people? There was a blue haired woman and more red haired men. There was also another gray haired man. Piper noticed a head of what looked to be wet, black hair. She noticed the cold, black eyes that were suddenly colder. She noticed the hooked nose.

Piper recognized the man. She crept to where he was standing. His arms were folded. He looked angry. She tugged on his robes and when he looked down, she held up her arms.

Snape was angry. Here was Potter, the boy-who-should-not-have-lived-but-did. One third of the Golden Trio. Spawn of the pain in the arse that lived to make Snape's life hell. Oh goody. Excuse Snape if he was not throwing a party.

Snape looked down after feeling a tugging on his robes. He saw the girl, no, Piper. She held her arms up. Snape gave a frustrated sigh and ignored the girl. He did not like children. He taught them, but that did not mean that he liked them.

Piper was frustrated. She wanted to be held. This man reminded her of her parents. He only needed a little love. She decided to hug him, but much to her dismay, she discovered she could only reach his legs. She hugged his legs anyway.

Snape looked down, startled. There was this girl, the girl he was trying to ignore, hugging him. Him! He ignored her and she hugged him!

He gave another frustrated sigh, then bent down and picked her up and placed her on his hip as he had seen others do. Piper smiled at him. He ignored her and went back to glaring at Potter.

Snape came to a startling revelation that day.

It was terribly hard to be intimidating when you were holding a child.


	4. Chapter Four

Piper had met The Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. Of course, Piper didn't know he was famous. She liked him for another reason. Mainly, his hair.

"Ow, Piper, my hair is not a toy. Why can't you play with the toys Mr. Weasley found for you?" Harry whined.

Arthur Weasley was able to obtain some muggle toys for his and Piper's amusement. He was even able to get a rubber duck for Piper's bathtime.

"Harry Potter, if Piper wants to play with your hair, let her," Hermione Granger admonished, looking up from a book. She had arrived a few days earlier and she enjoyed watching Harry's interaction with the child.

"Why'd Dumbledore name her Piper anyway? She doesn't look like a pipe," Ron noted.

"Something about his great aunt five times removed being named Piper," Hermione said, "And the October is from his favorite muggle holiday.

Harry and Ron looked at each other with identical expressions of 'How does she know that?' written across their faces.

Piper tugged on Harry's hair again to get his attention. She then held a doll up to him.

Ron looked at the doll in Piper's hand. "What did you say these things were called again?

Hermione and Harry looked up at Ron and spoke in a bored tone at the same time, "Barbies."

"Oh, right," Ron said.

Because of the lack of entertainment around, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley then proceeded to play barbies with a three year old.

Thank you for your reviews. I will update as soon as I am able to. If you wish for me to update sooner, simply tell me so and I will do my best.


	5. Chapter Five

Piper was upset. She liked these people, but she wanted her parents. She didn't care that these new people showered attention on her. She wanted her own parents. She wanted her own room. She wanted her own things.

Piper sobbed. Mrs. and Mr. Weasley were out shopping. Piper was in the care of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Piper sobbed and cried. Hermione tried reaching to pick up Piper, but Piper would have none of it. She didn't want to be held.

"Why won't she stop?" Ron asked.

"Maybe I have a book," Hermione pondered before racing out of the room.

Harry tried to reach out to Piper, but, unfortunately for him, his hand met sharp little teeth.

Harry yelped and Ron looked over. "What's wrong, mate?

"She bit me!" Harry exclaimed.

The sound of the fireplace making noises let everyone know that someone was flooing in. Moments later Severus Snape appeared in all his greasy glory.

Harry and Ron could only wonder how their luck could have gotten worse.

"Is Albus here?" Snape asked.

His question was met with two shakes of the head.

Snape looked over to the crying child. "Were you not left with the charge of her? Why are you not doing anything to help her?" He queried.

"We tried, sir, but she bit Harry," Ron supplied.

Snape let out a long suffering sigh and noted that he had been doing a lot of sighing while in the company of this child. He went over to where Piper had plopped on the ground, still crying. He crouched down and stared at Piper.

Piper noticed him and stared back before reaching up to him and mouthing words.

Snape stared at her while trying to decipher what she was trying to say.

Piper gave up and cried more.

Some deity finally gave Snape a clue as to what she wanted. "Home? You want to go home?

Piper looked up and nodded.

Snape's face hardened into a mask of hatred, "You don't have a home.

Piper thought his hatred was towards her and she went back to crying on the floor.

Snape picked up the child, after realizing his error, and walked to the fireplace. "I will bring her back later. Go back to your studying for school. You will need it." He threw some floo powder into the fireplace after saying a name and disappeared.

Ron and Harry merely looked at each other and shrugged. "Greasy git and crying child. Belong together, if you ask me," Ron commented.

Hermione raced back in, "I do not have a book but I did find" she trailed off after noticing there was no Piper. "Where's Piper?

Harry and Ron looked at each other before saying one word.

"Snape.

I was told the last chapter was too short...is this better?


	6. Chapter Six

Sorry this took so long. I hope this is enough to hold you all over for awhile.

Piper and Snape reappeared in a broken and charred fireplace. Piper recognized the fireplace and immediately started kicking to be let down. Snape put her on the ground and she stood where he had placed her.

"This is your home, Piper," he told her. "You cannot live here."

Piper toddled through the remains of the living room, occasionally pausing to glance at something. Somehow her house seemed different. Something seemed to call her. She toddled to what was calling her.

Snape looked up at the sky as if to ask, "Why me?" He followed the small child around the burned pieces that were once a house.

Piper passed through the doorway and followed the path to the small garden her parents had kept. The vegetables were slowly rotting. Weeds that were once pulled out every day were thriving. Piper walked to where a small fountain was. The fountain was clean, surprisingly.

"After all that walking, you want to play in a fountain?" Snape asked. There was a reason he did not like children, they never thought things through and were always either lazy or rushed.

As Snape was rolling his eyes, he noticed something strange. The fountain seemed to be covered in small handprints. All the hands pointed to one spot. The one spot was a circle.

While Snape was inspecting the fountain, Piper amused herself by piling dirt into the fountain and watching it disappear.

Snape grew very curious as to the origin of the fountain. Why would someone create a fountain with handprints leading to a circle? "Maybe," he mused to himself, "if someone was hiding something..."

Snape pulled out his wand and muttered a few words. The circle split down the diameter and the fountain shook a little. Piper made a squeak-like noise and ran to hide behind Snape. She clutched his robes and peered around his leg.

The fountain continued shaking until it split in half. The halves pulled apart to reveal a staircase.

"Interesting," Snape murmured. He began to walk forward, towards the staircase, when he noticed a child clinging to his leg. He automatically bent down and picked up Piper. If he was not so absorbed in the staircase, he would have been surprised to notice his actions. He balanced Piper on his hip and went down the stairs. Torches on the walls sprang to life and crackled with fire. The air became cool with each step. A stench assaulted their noses.

Snape recognized the smell. It was the smell of burnt flesh and death.

Piper pinched her nose and buried her face in Snape's shoulder.

Snape paid no attention to Piper and kept walking. He reached the end of the stairs and the room lit up with torches.

Snape felt his stomach clench and bile rising up his throat. There were people, or rather, what remained of people chained to walls and in cages.

Needless to say, Snape left there quickly, if not for his own sake, then for Piper's.

-

After Snape had taken Piper to her new home and reported to Dumbledore what he had found, Snape was back in the room that could only be described as a dungeon. Not that he wanted to be, of course.

They were now looking to see if they were indeed all dead. They being Dumbledore, Lupin, and Snape. The ministry would arrive later.

They opened up cages and checked pulses. They noticed that there were house-elves in the cages as well.

"It looks as though they were experimenting," Lupin commented.

"But, why?" Snape asked.

Dumbledore let out a surprised cry from his corner. In a caged was a girl who looked almost exactly like Piper, only older. She was hardly breathing.

The other two ran to the corner where Dumbledore was pulling out chocolate and water from his many pockets.

-

Lupin and Snape were pacing outside of Hogwarts' hospital wing. Dumbledore sat calmly, deep in thought. They had brought the girl to Hogwarts to be tended by Madam Pomfrey. She had yet to come out with a diagnosis.

At long last, Madam Pomfrey came out and shut the door behind her. She whispered quietly, "She is asleep and in stable condition. She will be in no state to talk to you, any of you," here she gave a look to Dumbledore, "for a few days. She is lucky to be alive."

Before any more words could be exchanged, she walked back into her hospital wing, shut the door, and locked it. No one would be getting in tonight.


	7. Chapter Seven

Piper stared at Snape. Snape was trying to ignore Piper while preparing his lesson plans for the coming year. Actually, he already had his lesson plans made out, right now he was just trying to make Piper go away.

It had been unanimously decided amongst the Order that Snape should look after Piper as much as possible. Piper was usually amused with him around and, therefore, she cried less and required less attention.

Finally, Snape cracked, "What?" he demanded from the girl. Piper blinked at him. "What in the name of Merlin do you want from me?" he demanded again.

Piper hopped down from her chair and walked to the other side of the table where Snape was. She held out her arms. Snape sighed, rolled his eyes, and picked her up and placed her on his lap. Piper peered at Snape's papers. She looked back to Snape.

"These are potions," Snape answered her unspoken question. He pulled out another sheet of paper. "This is a potion that will make a garden grow. It's quite simple. Here," he conjured up a miniaturized potion set, complete with Piper-sized cauldron.

"Now," he started, "I don't expect you to understand the beauty of a full cauldron with slight fumes coming up from the liquid inside, but I will teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and stopper death. I know you aren't a dunderhead like that Weasley and Potter."

During Snape's usual beginning of the year speech he gave to first-years, Piper was staring at the jars of liquids and powders.

Snape rolled his eyes as Piper reached for a jar that had eyes in it. "You're not even listening to me, are you? Very well. Time to begin."

Piper learned the proper way to cut a dandelion stalk, stir a potion, and annoy Snape. However, she only really remembered the latter.

After the potion had cooled, Snape placed it into a bottle and carefully labeled it "Garden". He handed it to Piper and set her on the ground so she could experiment with it. Snape would never admit it, but he was proud of Piper and her fascination with the potion. Someday, Snape would teach her the finer qualities of potions. But, for now, he was content with teaching her how to cut dandelions properly. Snape cleaned up the workspace quickly.

Snape suddenly had a terrible thought. "I think I'm going soft," he thought with horror. "No, no," his mind calmed him, "You are showing appreciation for an eager pupil."

With of flick of his wand, the mini potions set disappeared. Snape looked down. Piper had turned the floor around him into a small garden. Luckily, the flowers were easy to get rid of and Mrs. Weasley wouldn't snap at him too badly. The insects, however, would be slightly difficult to destroy.

A butterfly landed on Snape's nose. Piper giggled at him as the door opened. Snape tried to swat away the bothersome thing, but couldn't. He made himself as dignified as possible.

Dumbledore grinned at the sight in front of him. Piper was playing in the flowers while Severus had a butterfly on his nose. Severus cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes, Severus. The girl has woken. Come with me, and bring Piper," Dumbledore said.

Snape waved his wand and Piper's garden disappeared. He picked up Piper and followed Dumbledore.

With annoyance, Snape realized that the butterfly was still on his nose.

Please don't kill me! Love me! Please? I know, I'm a horrible person for making you wait this long, but I have good news. I have been writing more and I am now capable of longer, better chapters. I should have another chapter within a week. So, um, still mad?


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